Chapter Summaries

After the battle against Worryfree Valley, Yu Tiancheng declared that the three surviving sects would support one another, and he appointed Xu Qingtong to oversee the conquered territory. Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen stayed behind as Gloomwind Valley’s new Cloudsky Peak was established, and Xu Qingtong went to choose disciples to assist him.

• Du Siwen recounted the battle’s aftermath, and Yu Tiancheng praised the fallen forefathers who had sacrificed themselves for Qing and Bing Provinces.
• Fang Tianqi reported the heavy losses, the destruction of Worryfree Valley, and the division of its lands and spoils among the three sects.
• Yu Tiancheng rejected Fang Tianqi’s suggestion that Gloomwind Valley take advantage of the other sects’ weakened state and ordered the three sects to support one another.
• Xu Qingtong volunteered to remain at Worryfree Valley, and Yu Tiancheng renamed it Cloudsky Peak and appointed him its peak lord.
• Du Siwen asked to stay with Xu Qingtong, and Yu Tiancheng agreed to let the young disciples decide for themselves.
• Fang Tianqi returned with sixty-five disciples from the various peaks, and Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen left to choose helpers for Cloudsky Peak.

Xu Qingtong established Cloudsky Peak’s core team and became its peak master, then returned to the sect and collected supplies before visiting his uncle. He persuaded Chen Jialiang and Madam Zhang to move to Cloudsky Peak, where Xu Qingtong planned to help Chen Ruoling cultivate.

• Xu Qingtong selected thirty-two disciples for Cloudsky Peak, with Zhuang Shengren and Du Siwen becoming elders.
• Fang Tianqi told Xu Qingtong to choose a new mountain-protecting formation and promised the sect would allocate resources to Cloudsky Peak.
• Xu Qingtong returned to the sect, collected supplies, and bade Yu Tiancheng farewell before leaving for Li Family Village.
• Xu Qingtong offered Chen Jialiang and Madam Zhang the choice of returning to Houtang Town or living with him at Cloudsky Peak.
• Chen Jialiang chose to move with Xu Qingtong, and Xu Qingtong began packing their belongings while Madam Zhang asked what else they could bring.

Xu Qingtong brought Chen Jialiang, Madam Zhang, and Chen Ruoling to Cloudsky Peak, where he helped establish a new home and sect-like community. After preparing a Sinew-Building Elixir, he began the dangerous process of remolding Chen Ruoling's body so she could cultivate.

• Xu Qingtong reunited with Chen Ruoling, told her that her husband and son had been avenged, and took her and her parents to Cloudsky Peak in the Ink Cloud Shuttle.
• Du Siwen welcomed the family, while Xu Qingtong and Zhuang Shengren laid out Cloudsky Peak and established its Mountain-Guarding Grand Array.
• After more than twenty days of organizing residences, facilities, and duties, Xu Qingtong delegated resource and personnel management to Du Siwen and Zhuang Shengren.
• Xu Qingtong visited Chen Jialiang and Madam Zhang in their new courtyard, then decided to resume preparing Chen Ruoling for cultivation.
• Xu Qingtong refined a fire-attribute Sinew-Building Elixir and warned Chen Ruoling that remolding her body would be painful and life-threatening.
• Chen Ruoling agreed to proceed, and Xu Qingtong began the treatment with Du Siwen's help after Chen Ruoling swallowed the elixir.

Xu Qingtong guided Chen Ruoling through the painful, twenty-day refinement of a Sinew-Building Elixir, transforming her into a fire-attribute cultivator with First Qi Refining Layer magic power. After returning to her parents and sharing the news, Chen Ruoling reunited with Xu Qingtong, whose examination of her body ended with a worried frown.

• Xu Qingtong carefully released the elixir's medicinal power while Du Siwen helped Chen Ruoling endure the agony, and Chen Ruoling repeatedly insisted that they continue.
• On the tenth day, black, foul-smelling impurities seeped from Chen Ruoling's pores as she grew accustomed to the pain and refined the elixir more quickly.
• Five days later, Chen Ruoling finished refining the elixir, gained fire-attribute magic power at the First Qi Refining Layer, and underwent a striking physical transformation; Xu Qingtong collapsed into an exhausted sleep.
• Chen Ruoling returned to her parents, reassured them, and told them that Xu Qingtong had helped her cleanse her meridians and that she intended to begin cultivation.
• After sleeping for two days and nights, Xu Qingtong examined Chen Ruoling's body with his magic power and furrowed his brows at what he discovered.

After helping Chen Ruoling begin cultivation, Xu Qingtong planned to rebuild Cloudsky Peak by recruiting talented disciples and seeking resources. He sent Du Siwen and Zhuang Shengren to recruit in the mortal world, while postponing his own exploration of a suspicious valley near the Heavenly Chasm and turning to study the Yin Nether Soul Refining Art.

• Xu Qingtong told Chen Ruoling that her fire spirit root had poor aptitude, gave her a cultivation jade slip, and arranged for her to stay with Du Siwen.
• Xu Qingtong worried that Tian Zongfei might have survived the battle at Worryfree Valley, then identified people and resources as Cloudsky Peak's main problems.
• Xu Qingtong summoned Du Siwen and Zhuang Shengren and ordered them to recruit talented disciples from the mortal world.
• Xu Qingtong studied a map of the Heavenly Chasm region and marked the valley where Zhang Fusheng had found a skeleton, Wind-Treading Boots, and the Shadowless Evasion Technique.
• Xu Qingtong decided to wait for Du Siwen and Zhuang Shengren to return before exploring, then took out the Yin Nether Soul Refining Art to study.

Xu Qingtong studied the Yin Nether Soul Refining Art alongside the Treatise on Yin-Yang and Five Elements and realized how yin and yang were intertwined. He followed Xiao Qi to a cave behind his abode, where Xizi discovered a mineral vein rich in Yin Nether Qi beneath it.

• Xu Qingtong retrieved the Treatise on Yin-Yang and Five Elements from Chen Jialiang's home and studied it to understand the flaws in the Yin Nether Soul Refining Art.
• Xu Qingtong realized that yin and yang contained and transformed into each other, and the black-and-white fish within his Dao Heart seed changed to reflect this insight.
• Xu Qingtong encountered Chen Ruoling at her residence, learned that she could draw qi into her body, and then hurried back to his cave abode.
• Xu Qingtong asked Xiao Qi to locate strong yin qi, and Xiao Qi led him to a cave in the rear valley.
• Xu Qingtong sent Xizi to scout the cave, and Xizi found a mineral vein beneath it that emitted powerful Yin Nether Qi.

Xu Qingtong discovered that his lost lifespan had made the yin qi in his body seem excessive, and he restored it by refining yin qi and reversing the balance of yin and yang. After months of cultivation, he visited his maternal uncle and aunt, leaving the story with a warm family reunion.

• Xiao Qi identified the unusual mineral vein beneath the cave as a nether vein, and Xu Qingtong concealed it with the Little Four Symbols Formation.
• Xu Qingtong studied the Yin Nether Soul Refining Art and realized his apparent excess of yin qi came from losing yang qi when he sacrificed part of his lifespan.
• Xu Qingtong refined the surrounding yin qi into yang qi, replenishing his lost lifespan and deepening his understanding of yin and yang.
• Xu Qingtong tried refining more yin qi but found that it no longer increased his lifespan, then returned to his cave abode to cultivate the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art.
• After more than three months, Xu Qingtong visited Chen Jialiang and Madam Zhang, who welcomed him at their courtyard.

Xu Qingtong welcomed new children recruited by Du Siwen and Zhuang Shengren to Cloudsky Peak as the sects began competing for disciples. He worried that the catastrophe in Worryfree Valley had devastated the mortal population and left few children with good aptitude.

• Xu Qingtong visited Chen Jialiang and Madam Zhang, ate with them, and dodged Madam Zhang's suggestion that he marry a girl from the Du Household.
• Xu Qingtong checked on Chen Ruoling, found her close to the second Qi Refining layer, and told her to wait until the fourth layer before trying to improve her aptitude again.
• Du Siwen arrived with thirteen children she had recruited, and Xu Qingtong had Lei Wei settle them in and explain Cloudsky Peak's rules.
• Du Siwen told Xu Qingtong that Biluozong and Azure Sea Gate were preparing to recruit disciples, while the mortal population remained badly diminished after Worryfree Valley's catastrophe.
• Zhuang Shengren returned with more than twenty recruits, and Xu Qingtong gathered Du Siwen, Zhuang Shengren, Ding Jiayue, and Lei Wei in the Council Hall with the children.

Xu Qingtong recruited disciples for Cloudsky Peak, secured Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients, and used a period of seclusion to refine elixirs. After returning, he asked Ding Jiayue whether she was ready to attempt Foundation Establishment.

• Xu Qingtong tested thirty-five children, and Du Siwen and Zhuang Shengren chose disciples while Xu Qingtong took Fu Xingzhi and Li Yingjie as his own.
• Xu Qingtong formally accepted Fu Xingzhi and Li Yingjie, gave them cave abodes, and explained Gloomwind Valley's rules and cultivation requirements.
• Xu Qingtong told Fang Tianqi and Yu Tiancheng about Cloudsky Peak's recruitment and obtained five sets of Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients from Four-Hall.
• Xu Qingtong gave Yu Tiancheng a compiled sea chart connected to Old Dong's voyage to Central Province, and Yu Tiancheng told him to keep it secret.
• Xu Qingtong spent over a month refining elixirs, then asked Ding Jiayue about her preparations to attempt Foundation Establishment.

Xu Qingtong gave Ding Jiayue and Lei Wei Foundation Establishment pills and his cultivation insights, then cultivated in seclusion. After learning Cloudsky Peak was running out of resources, he helped establish a mission-and-contribution system and prepared the two disciples to attempt Foundation Establishment, where Ding Jiayue began her breakthrough with a low-grade pill to save the high-grade one for the peak.

• Xu Qingtong gave Ding Jiayue and Lei Wei high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills and copies of his Foundation Establishment insights.
• After half a year of seclusion, Xu Qingtong learned from Du Siwen that Cloudsky Peak's resources would not last another six months.
• Xu Qingtong and the others agreed to create allocation and duty regulations, establish a Mission Hall, and let disciples earn contributions through tasks.
• Xu Qingtong set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation with five high-grade spirit stones so Ding Jiayue and Lei Wei could attempt Foundation Establishment.
• Ding Jiayue entered the formation and took a low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill to preserve her high-grade pill for Cloudsky Peak.

After strengthening Cloudsky Peak and tending to his disciples, Xu Qingtong traveled with Du Siwen to explore the dangerous region near the Heavenly Chasm. They entered the Demon Baleful Forest, where Xu Qingtong surveyed the land and sent Xizi to investigate a strange hill.

• Ding Jiayue and Lei Wei each successfully reached Foundation Establishment, bringing Cloudsky Peak's total to five Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
• Xu Qingtong agreed to explore the area near the Heavenly Chasm with Du Siwen, leaving Cloudsky Peak's affairs to Zhuang Shengren and the others.
• Xu Qingtong advised Fu Xingzhi on cultivation, assigned him the medicinal garden, and gave Li Yingjie pills after hearing of his progress.
• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen traveled east to the Demon Baleful Forest and chose to explore it first.
• Xu Qingtong recorded the forest's terrain, resources, and Demon Beasts while avoiding gathering herbs or killing low-rank beasts.
• Xu Qingtong summoned Xizi and sent it into an unusual hill to investigate.

Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen discovered a spirit stone vein and explored the Demon Baleful Forest, where they found a thousand-year-old tiger-patterned white jade lotus. A fourth-tier Black Phoenix Flood Dragon emerged from the pool beside it, and Xu Qingtong chose to fight rather than abandon the forest’s treasures.

• Xizi unearthed a low-grade metal-attribute spirit stone and revealed a small vein beneath a hill, which Xu Qingtong marked for Cloudsky Peak to develop while sharing some proceeds with the sect.
• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen explored the forest for several days, and Xu Qingtong slew a peak second-tier Red-Eyed Cloud Wolf.
• Xizi spotted a tiger-patterned white jade lotus near a deep pool, and Xu Qingtong estimated its root was at least a thousand years old.
• The pool drained as Xu Qingtong moved to harvest the lotus, and a Black Phoenix Flood Dragon emerged and revealed it could speak human language.
• Xu Qingtong shielded Du Siwen, decided to fight the fourth-tier demon beast, and brought out the Houtu Seal and Zhurong Seal as it lunged at him.

Xu Qingtong fought the Black Phoenix Flood Dragon with Du Siwen, then trapped and struck it down with his divine seals, Xiao Qi, Xizi, and a Talisman Treasure. The flood dragon released pink mist as it died, and Xu Qingtong succumbed to its effects, mistaking an apparition of Dongfang Hui for reality.

• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen attacked the Black Phoenix Flood Dragon, but its tail sent Du Siwen flying and left her unconscious.
• Xu Qingtong used his Yin-Yang and Five Elements Formation to trap the flood dragon and summoned Xiao Qi to help.
• Xu Qingtong activated his Talisman Treasure while Xiao Qi blinded the flood dragon with its innate Divine Ability.
• Xizi trapped the fleeing flood dragon in a web, and Xu Qingtong pinned and bound it with his sword and Goumang Seal.
• The dying flood dragon released pink mist that made Xu Qingtong dizzy and delusional, and he saw Dongfang Hui and walked toward her.

Xu Qingtong was afflicted by the Black Phoenix Flood Dragon's lust-inducing venom, and Du Siwen stayed behind to save him. He awoke three days later with the poison gone and his cultivation improved, then helped her process the flood dragon's remains.

• The Black Phoenix Flood Dragon released its venom sac, and Xu Qingtong nearly attacked Du Siwen before warning her to flee.
• Xu Qingtong collapsed unconscious as the venom overwhelmed him, and Du Siwen returned to find his breathing dangerously faint.
• Three days later, Xu Qingtong awoke and discovered that the venom had vanished and his cultivation had improved.
• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen processed the Black Phoenix Flood Dragon's corpse, and Xizi ate its meat.
• Xu Qingtong offered the flood dragon's inner core to Xiao Qi to see whether it would be useful.

After returning from the Demon Baleful Forest, Xu Qingtong organized Cloudsky Peak’s new spirit stone mine and cultivation work, then spent six months in seclusion improving his cultivation. He later met his cousin Chen Ruoling, who asked him to transform her physique despite the risks.

• Xiao Qi took the Black Phoenix Flood Dragon’s inner core, and Xu Qingtong told Du Siwen about his living-storage Spatial Treasure.
• Xu Qingtong found a tiger-patterned white jade lotus and offered it to Du Siwen, who declined.
• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen returned to Cloudsky Peak and arranged for Zhuang Shengren to manage the Spirit Stone Mine, Lei Wei to lead hunting expeditions, and Du Siwen and Ding Jiayue to oversee the peak.
• Xu Qingtong cultivated for six months and advanced close to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, noticing a new sense of yin and yang in his body.
• Chen Ruoling complained that Xu Qingtong had neglected her cultivation, then asked him to transform her physique despite the pain and danger.

Xu Qingtong decided to give Chen Ruoling five spirit roots and accept her as Yu Xuzi’s second disciple on his master’s behalf. After completing the dangerous alterations, he taught her the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art and continued assessing whether Fu Xingzhi could be trusted with it.

• Xu Qingtong changed his plan for Chen Ruoling and spent less than half a month refining four Sinew-Building Elixirs.
• Xu Qingtong trained Chen Ruoling in the Heavenly Fire Body-Tempering Art, then began altering her spirit roots with Du Siwen standing guard.
• Chen Ruoling endured the alterations, nearly dying during the water-root change, and Xu Qingtong carefully completed her five spirit roots after she rested.
• Xu Qingtong accepted Chen Ruoling as Yu Xuzi’s second disciple, taught her the Qi Refining portion of the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art, and warned her to remember his moral instructions.
• Xu Qingtong questioned Fu Xingzhi about his cultivation, advised him to advance patiently, and withheld the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art until he trusted him more.

Xu Qingtong studied how to refine an external incarnation, then set out with Du Siwen to answer a demon-beast attack on the Spirit Stone Mine. He confronted a powerful Raised-Tail Fire Ape, but it broke free of his vines and launched a Fire Dragon at him.

• Xu Qingtong studied the Profound Yin Artifact Refining Technique and learned the requirements for refining an external incarnation.
• Xu Qingtong asked Du Siwen to help gather materials, then decided to seek a fourth-tier demon beast core at Black Witch Marsh.
• After receiving word of a demon-beast attack on the Spirit Stone Mine, Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen flew there to assist Zhuang Shengren and Lei Wei.
• Xu Qingtong recognized the Raised-Tail Fire Ape and coordinated Du Siwen, Zhuang Shengren, Lei Wei, and Xizi to contain it and the other beasts.
• Xu Qingtong attacked the Raised-Tail Fire Ape with seals and talismans, but it broke free of the Goumang Seal and sent a Fire Dragon toward him.

Xu Qingtong and his allies defeated the Tail-Raising Fire Ape and secured the fourth-tier inner core he needed. After learning that the demon-beast attack seemed suspicious, Xu Qingtong withdrew the trial disciples, reinforced the Spirit Stone Mine’s defenses, and returned to Cloudsky Peak to make a new plan.

• Xu Qingtong, Du Siwen, and Zhuang Shengren fought the Tail-Raising Fire Ape, and Xu Qingtong used his seals and Soul-Piercing Nails to weaken it.
• Xizi ensnared the wounded fire ape, and Xu Qingtong stopped it from self-detonating before capturing its soul and killing it.
• Xu Qingtong cautiously checked the corpse and retrieved the fiery-red fourth-tier demon beast inner core.
• Zhuang Shengren recounted the attack, and Xu Qingtong decided the demon beasts’ arrival was suspicious.
• Xu Qingtong ended the trial early, left Lei Wei to help Zhuang Shengren guard the Spirit Stone Mine, and set up the Nirvana Imprisonment-Killing Formation.
• Xu Qingtong took Du Siwen and the trial disciples back to Cloudsky Peak and began devising a new plan.

Xu Qingtong refined an incarnation and tested the limits of his mental connection with it. After preparing elixirs for his own breakthrough, he gave Du Siwen supplies and urged her to advance so they could investigate Black Witch Marsh and the Valley of the Dead.

• Xu Qingtong secluded himself in his cave abode, rehearsed the incarnation refinement ten times, then spent three days completing the Humanoid Embryo.
• Xu Qingtong merged one of his primordial spirits into the incarnation and spent three months nurturing it until it could act and cultivate independently.
• Xu Qingtong flew away from Cloudsky Peak to test their mental connection and found it weakened after fifty li and vanished after another ten li or so.
• Xu Qingtong returned and had the incarnation focus on cultivation while he prepared to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Xu Qingtong refined elixirs for seven days, then gave his surplus to Du Siwen and urged her to attempt a breakthrough so they could investigate Black Witch Marsh and the Valley of the Dead.

Xu Qingtong arranged new disciple trials and refined powerful Spirit Artifacts for Lei Wei before retreating to advance his cultivation. After consuming two Foundation Establishment Realm Realm-Breaking Pills, he broke through the barrier to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

• Xu Qingtong returned to Cloudsky Peak, discussed his cultivation and peak affairs with Du Siwen, and planned new trials for the disciples.
• Xu Qingtong tasked Lei Wei with leading the disciples on trials and refined a purple-gold Flying Sword and a defensive shield for him.
• Lei Wei received the treasures, pledged his loyalty to Xu Qingtong, and left to lead the disciples to the Demon Baleful Forest.
• Xu Qingtong practiced the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art for half a year while his incarnation advanced to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
• Xu Qingtong swallowed middle-grade and high-grade Foundation Establishment Realm Realm-Breaking Pills, and his Spiritual Power surged as he broke through into the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.